Ben Carson Just Helped Philadelphia’s Community In An Amazing Way

HUD Secretary Ben Carson travelled to Pennsylvania to help open a new school in Philadelphia. Carson took part in the ribbon cutting at Vaux Big Picture High School with Philadelphia Housing Authority President Kelvin Jeremiah and praised the partnership that made the creation of the school possible.

According to Philly.com News, the school was made possible by a unique partnership between the Philadelphia Housing Authority, the Philadelphia School District, and Big Picture Philadelphia, which is a nonprofit education provider that was hired to run Vaux. Carson suggested such partnerships should be replicated all across America.

Here is a Tweet Carson sent out soon after his visit:

Helped cut the grand opening ribbon at the Vaux Big Picture High School… a great example of how we can develop holistic communities. pic.twitter.com/IFB8OkM0k4

Carson said the Vaux concept — with its public-private partnerships — was the way to go, rather than the old model of the government coming in “with a big bucket of money,” building a project, then letting it languish. When community partners rely on projects for part of their income, that’s a game changer, Carson said.

“You’re pretty much guaranteed that it’s going to be successful,” said Carson, who also stressed the importance of education in his own rise to prominence. He implored Vaux’s 126 current students — enrollment will eventually grow to 500 — to take advantage of the opportunities in front of them.

Carson discussed how impressed he was with the educational style used at Vaux and how important a solid education is to everyone no matter what type of community or background they come from. “People who are well-educated are very difficult to manipulate and to control,” said Carson.

Carson closed out his trip to Philly by visiting a facility for local vets and touted the city for essentially ending veteran homelessness. Philly’s Mayor Kenney thanked Carson for federal funding to make local revitalizing possible and encouraged continued support.

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